Welcome to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitaion and Correction

Please Note: You are viewing the non-styled version of Ohio Department of Rehabilitaion and Correction. Either your browser does not support Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) or it is disabled. We suggest upgrading your browser to the latest version of your favorite Internet browser.

Search:

Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Certificate of Qualification for Employment (CQE)

Related Links

Senate Bill 337 became effective September 29, 2012, and
created a “Certificate of
Qualification for Employment” (CQE) in
Ohio Revised Code 2953.25. The CQE will allow persons
living in the community who have a previous felony or
misdemeanor conviction to apply to the court to lift the
collateral sanction that bars them from being considered for
employment in a particular field.

Certificate of Qualification for Employment (SB 337)

Issued by the Court of Common Pleas where the
ex-offender resides.

Creates a process by which an individual, who is
subject to a "civil impact" or "collateral
sanction", may obtain an order of limited relief
from a court that will provide relief from certain
bars on employment or occupational licensing in the
state of Ohio. A collateral sanction is a penalty,
disability, or disadvantage that is related to
employment or occupational licensing as a result of
a conviction of or plea of guilty to an offense and
that applies by operation of law in this state
regardless if the penalty, disability, or
disadvantage is included in the sentence or
judgment.

The certificate may be used for general
employment opportunities as well.

If seeking relief from a felony conviction, the
petition can be filed one year after release from
incarceration and all periods of supervision after
release. If the offender was not incarcerated, the
petition can be filed one year from the date of the
individual’s final release from all sanctions
imposed (for example: Community Control).

If seeking relief from a misdemeanor conviction,
the petition can be filed six months after release
from incarceration and all periods of supervision
after release. If the offender was not incarcerated,
the petition can be filed six months from the date
of the individual’s final release from all sanctions
imposed.

The petition, instructions on completing the
petition, and other valuable information can be
found by visiting:
https://www.drccqe.com

Justice Reinvestment Officers (JROs) review the
petition for completeness and forward the petition
to the court on behalf of the ex-offender for those
ex-offenders who have served time in an ODRC
institution or have received services in an ODRC
funded program. Otherwise, the offender can file
their own petition directly to the court where Local
Rule allows.

After DRC review, the petition is electronically
forwarded to the court for consideration. At
this time, the petitioner is instructed to print a
copy of their petition and file it as a civil matter
with the Clerk of Courts Civil Division in the
County Common Pleas Court where they reside.

Upon receiving the petition AND all
investigatory information that the court deems
necessary, the court has 60 days to render its
decision.

If granted, the petitioner will have the
opportunity to print the certificate directly from
drccqe.com where it will be automatically generated
and stored by the online process.

Issuance of the certificate, and presentation
forthwith to the applicable agency, will then permit
the appropriate decision maker to review on a case
by case basis whether to issue or re-issue a license
and/or permit an employment opportunity within the
desired occupation.

Hiring of a petitioner who has been granted a
certificate provides the prospective employer with
immunity from negligent hiring claims when the
employer is aware of the certificate at hiring.
If the employer fails to take action when dangerous
or criminal behavior is exhibited after hiring and
retains the employee after such behavior, the
employer can then be held liable.

Certificates may be revoked if the offender is
convicted of or pleads guilty to a felony offense
committed subsequent to the issuance of the
certificate.

It should be noted that this provision of SB337
contains other important elements, limitations, and
expectations and should be viewed in its entirety
for full clarification.

Official List of Approved CQE Certificates:

Click HERE for a list of
all approved CQE Certificates. This list will be updated
two times per month. The Ohio Department of
Rehabilitation and Correction cannot warrant the
continued validity of the certificate. Persons
intending to rely on the certificate should first
investigate the current criminal history of the named
individual. If the named individual was convicted of any
felony offense after receiving the certificate, the
certificate should be presumed to be revoked.

Legislation

If you have any questions regarding this process, please
contact:
Suzanne Brooks
Assistant to the Managing Director of Court and Community
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and CorrectionSuzanne.Brooks@odrc.state.oh.us
614.752.0829